Life At Its Best: Find help from heaven

July 29, 2011 at 2:29 a.m.

Interestingly, in Ephesians 5, Paul compares the physical response of being drunk to the spiritual response of being filled with the Holy Spirit. But instead of causing you to see your circumstances in ways that bring harm, the Holy Spirit causes you to see them in a way that brings wholeness into your life. Verse 18 says, "Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit."

Being filled with the Spirit is a choice we all have to make. We make it when we spend time with God in prayer, recognizing that He has specific purposes He wants to reveal to us through His Spirit. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us, the more we'll stop seeing our problems the way we used to, and the less powerless we'll begin to feel about our future.

Peter, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, spent his life teaching people about the purpose and power of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, many in his day had known Jesus and still hadn't recognized His power, including the High Priests. In Acts 4:11, Peter said to them, "Jesus is the stone that you builders rejected which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else..."

What is a capstone? It's the most prominent stone in a building that reveals its purpose. Peter was letting these men know that they were neglecting the very person they should've been respecting - Jesus. And because they were refusing to be filled with His Spirit, they couldn't see their circumstances the way God wanted them to. As a result, they remained in a state of confusion and loss.

But Peter made the courageous choice to not let his own thoughts, emotions and logic determine his response to struggles. Instead, he relied on the Holy Spirit and experienced an incredible life full of God's grace. So, I encourage you to follow Peter's example. Don't look at being filled with the Holy Spirit as a one-time spiritual experience or just another doctrine to believe in. Understand that it's allowing God to flood your life with what He knows so that you no longer see your circumstances through your own eyes, but through His.

No matter what you might be facing today, there is always help on the inside. So, stop right now, and invite the Holy Spirit to fill you. Then continue spending time in prayer, reminding yourself that as you remain willing and obedient. God will satisfy your life.

Jim Graff is the senior pastor of Faith Family Church in Victoria. faithfamilyvictoria.com